That the Penn State child molestation scandal has metastasized into a full-fledged ethics train wreck can now hardly be denied. The proof is that, as pointed out by Solomon L. Wisenberg on the White Collar Crime blog, Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly trounced all over fairness to the accused in her statement to the press, violating the ethics rules governing prosecutors in the process.

Rule 3.8 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct states that the prosecutor in a criminal case..

“…shall, except for statements that are necessary to inform the public of the nature and extent of the prosecutor’s action and that serve a legitimate law enforcement purpose, refrain from making extrajudicial comments that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused and exercise reasonable care to prevent investigators, law enforcement personnel, employees or other persons assisting or associated with the prosecutor in a criminal case from making an extrajudicial statement that the prosecutor would be prohibited from making under Rule 3.6 or this Rule.”

Rule 3.6(a) forbids a “lawyer who is participating or has participated in the investigation or litigation of a matter” from making… Continue reading →